Irma

Irma's powerful winds triggered strong damage in the areas where the storm made a direct hit -- but for cities including Jacksonville, Fla., and Charleston, S.C., it unleashed pushing amounts of storm surge.

Storm-shocked Floridians returned to shattered homes on Monday as the remnants of Hurricane Irma pushed inland, leaving more than half of all state residents without power and city streets underwater from Orlando and Jacksonville into coastal Georgia and South Carolina.

Before crashing into Florida, Hurricane Irma set all sorts of records for brute strength as it flattened Caribbean islands and swamped the Florida Keys. Irma's assault — so soon after Harvey's deluge of Houston — marked the first time the U.S. was hit by two Category 4 storms in the same year.

Hurricane Irma is threatening to wreak havoc on Florida farmlands, threatening $1.2 billion worth of production in the top U.S. grower of fresh tomatoes, oranges, green beans, cucumbers, squash, and sugarcane.

US President Donald Trump is expected to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York later this month, Haaretz reported Wednesday citing local officials.